Caledonian Hotel — Restaurant in Adelaide

Worst and rudest service

Attended today after a work function with some work mates. It was a last minute decision so we didn't have a booking. We wanted a walked in for lunch at 12.30 and wanted a table for 10 people. We were told that would be okay but there would be a wait for food as there was a function. Which was completely fine and understandable. Once we were seated a lady came to the table and this is where our experience took a bad turn. She was quite rude, she approached the table and said "okay, so i am just trying to understand whats going on here, you are a party of 10 and didnt have a booking, just walked in?" With a rude, somewhat confused tone. This was a very odd way to be welcomed and was kinda uncomfortable. But we had a laugh about it once she left and we brushed it off. We ordered our drinks which came out quick and were great. We then ordered our food and the same server came back later to set side plates and cutlery. The plates were dirty, with the server even saying "ew" as she placed one down and scratched something off it before placing it down completely. We waited just over 1h for our meals, which was okay as we were told the wait would be longer than normal. When the meals came out, there was an order she had written down wrong and instead of a chicken schnitzel with gravy we were brought a chicken parmy with gravy. We told the server the error and she said she wrote it down wrong and would get another made. The person who's meal it was asked if it would be long because if it would be then not to bother (as the rest of the table would all be finished) She responded buy saying "if you are happy to have the parmy I can bring it out now" the person told her they can't eat cheese so she can't eat it which is when the server assured us it was being made in that moment, and it came out shortly after.

When she brought the correct meal she said "I apologise for the mix up but we honestly should never of let you walk in today when we are short of staff" with a rude and snappy tone. This was the worst customer service experience I have had. If you were unable to provide us efficient and professional customer service then we should have been told there was no way we could have a walk in table, we would of understood and carried on to the next establishment. Your establishment decided to allow us in, delivered exceptionally poor customer service and followed it up with blaming us for being there as to why.

The chicken schnitzels were very thick chicken which tasted bland, the chips were double cooked and greasy, the salt and pepper squid was more like a plain battered squid.

All round the food was bland but edible. Its the service that is unforgettable and the reason none of us will be back and we have already told numerous people about our experience and warned them against going there.

With so many great options with-in walking distance of this one, I would highly recommend you walk past the Caledonian Hotel and go to any...

I attended a work xmas function last saturday evening, which was great, however I was disappointed in the lack of training and or skills of the bar and waiting staff. The staff were scant for a busy weekend night, whether thats a management issue or not was certainly reflected in the waiting times to be served. Given this was a booked event extra staff should have been rostered on. Secondly I noted the staff to very inexperienced and their handling of food and beverages was below standard. A few suggestions.....when serving drinks , particularly the bar person must never grasp the top of the glass and hand it to the customer......hygiene 101, especially after wiping the sweat of their forehead.This I observed on numerous occasions. Despite offering advice on how the glass should be handled, so I switched bars and onto wine by the glass. First world problem solved I thought. I then observed the bar attendant over pour my wine into the glass, then attempt to tip the excess back into the bottle spilling it anyway ...completely unhygienic. My concerns would be , who trained these staff members? Are they in fact qualified to serve food and beverages ? If they are why dont they adhere to the correct standards of service ? Which leads me to ask ..who supervises these workers??? Otherwise, not too bad. Just another point, when serving 'wettish' finger foods, like salt and pepper squid and chinese glazy chicken bits, it would be nice to have tooth picks so that the customer does'nt have to trawl through the platter with their fingers. We all would have spent much more if we could have got served more efficiently at the bar. Smarten up there are much better performing hotels...

We attended last night as a large group, booking two weeks in advance. It seemed as soon as we arrived that we were an inconvenience and felt rushed to order. The price of meals was ridiculous for what you get, unless it’s the seafood mix which one of us got and it was packed! I ordered the entree schnitzel, the herb crust was alright but the 16 chips I got was ridiculous. The best part was the coleslaw. My friends also felt that their meals were less to be desired and for what we got, it wasn’t memorable in a good way. Making us not choose this as our next venue for a catch up.

I went up to the bar one occasion to order a drink asking the girl if she had a certain type of drink, the manager I believe immediately came up and stopped her saying “we’re not taking their food orders remember”. Felt sorry for the girl serving and the man was definitely condescending in his service, saying we were confusing the kitchen by ordering 1 serve of spring roles early before the whole group arrived and that we were confusing staff by ordering drinks/coffees individually at the bar.

We appreciate the efforts of staff but sadly...